Weekly Weeder


Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 8 Issue No. 7 April 4, 2007

www.olinfoxfarms.com Spring Season Week 3

STANDARD REMINDER

Please be sure to wash your weekly share thoroughly before serving. To preserve freshness, it is NOT ‘table ready’ (i.e., pre-washed). We deliver your Olin-Fox Farms’ produce right from the fields to ensure highest quality.


Remaining Spring Program (with Mother Nature's cooperation) dates,

please mark your calendars:

April 3-7; April 11-14; April 18-21; May 2-5

Please note, April 25-28 will be an off-week so we can do planting

for the Summer Program.


This Week's News From The Farms


No fooling, the first day of April brought out scads of insects, including those dreaded needle-nosed, bloodthirsty, high-pitched kamikaze mosquitoes. Although it's been just a little over 2 weeks since our last frost, there is still a slight chance of a few more freezing nights ahead. While that could certainly “do in” some of those pesky critters, another frost could also cause some serious damage to the young and tender crops underway. Rumor has it that we might even get snow as late as Easter Sunday! When today's idyllic temperature plummeted 30 degrees at sundown and the icy wind picked up, suddenly that forecast doesn't seem so unlikely after all.


Our best defense against frost is floating row cover that also serves as an insect barrier. The milder temperatures and a few more nice sunny days has made it possible to get major crop production going here, as well as at the other farms. Nothing compares with the visceral satisfaction of working outdoors the better part of a perfect day, silently, alone or with others, gardening in the fragrant earth, serenaded by an array of songbirds, caressed by a gentle breeze carrying the scent of fresh sweet flowers, the temperature neither too cool or too warm (for a change), feeling connected and really alive. Ah, yes, this is the legendary magic of springtime in rural Virginia! Ever hear the distinctive echoing whoop of a whippoorwill's territorial mating call, in the still coolness of late evening, rolling across a tidal creek from tall distant silhouetted pines on the very night when the moon is full?


In addition to necessary chores associated with tending to the crops, the new bee keeping area is being prepared for the arrival of the bee boxes [modern, practical hives, instead of those picturesque skeps made from bound skeins of straw] as homes from the bees to come. After extensive research, Alice has learned that hive infestations by a pernicious Asian mite have devastated a large portion of the US bee population. Of course, the over use of pesticides is another major factor contributing to the alarming decline. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the current term for the mysterious disappearance of about 25% of the honeybees in the US.


To help our bees stay healthy, Alice is preparing a completely natural habitat for them that will include a number of herbs bees favor (such as mint, bee balm, and fennel). Also, these bees will enjoy the benefits of being based on a natural farm with no pesticide use whatsoever. Anyone remember being complimented by someone with the colloquial expression, “You are the bees' knees???? Wonder where that one came from?

Albert Einstein, quoted in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, once said,

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

Weekly Weeder, April 4, 2007 Page 2


We have also cut oak logs for the inoculation later this month of Shitake mushroom spawn to increase our mushroom production. If you haven't already, look up the numerous health benefits ascribed to these beauties, in addition to their delicious flavor. Moisture, in the form of rain, is needed catalyst to get them to explode in new growth.


We hope you are enjoying the early spring produce. Admittedly, the shares have been on the light side, due to low temperatures in late February and early March. It's easy for us for forget that, before global shipping, regular people had no other option but to eat what was available in season. They looked forward (perhaps even more than we do) to enjoying fresh greens again after subsisting all winter on what had been stored and preserved from the prior year. Normally, by this time we would be inundated with vibrant greens. With the winning combination of progressively warmer weather and soaking rain showers typical in April, soon the produce floodgates ought to open wide, bringing you much larger shares and more variety. So, we invite all of you to join us in our eager anticipation of these homegrown treats that enhance vitality better than any multivitamin pill ever will.


Crop Report

To get the asparagus off to a rousing start---along with spring onions, radishes, leafy greens, cabbage, and broccoli---all we need now is a good rain. If you feel like do a little rain dance for us farmers, please let it be a nice, lilting waltz. It looks like another batch of enzyme- and vitamin-rich microgreens with pea shoots will be ready in time for next week's delivery as well.


In Your Produce Basket This Week

Curly Kale, Tender Baby Collard Greens, Green Onions, Hakuri Turnips with Greens, Purple Top Turnips with Greens, Cilantro, and Fennel.


Recipes


Editor's Note: This year, my publisher and his family (who are also CSA members) are living in Santiago, Chile. His wife, Amy Jones, sent along one of her favorite recipes to share with you. In previous newsletters, we've mentioned their two daughters, India and Rain, who help out as volunteers around the farm with their mom when they're around. Ten-year old India has an online chronicle of their year in Chile, www.ratsoap.com.


Mushroom & Greens Empanadas
Ingredients

Filling:

Large onion, chopped Garlic, 2 cloves chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped 8 oz of chopped mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon chopped chili pepper (optional) Paprika

Cumin Oregano
Salt/pepper Fresh basil, rosemary, and/or cilantro

Freshly grated parmesan, about 1/4 cup

1 lb. washed and chopped fresh greens - spinach, Swiss chard,Baby Red Russian kale, and /or collard greens (or any combination you have on hand in this week's share)

Optional filling additions:
Raisins Oil-cured olives Chopped hard-boiled egg


Pastry Dough (see below)





Weekly Weeder, April 4, 2007 Page 3


Directions
The filling:
For the filling, saute together in a few tablespoons of olive oil until very soft the onion, garlic, red pepper, and the mushrooms. Add a splash of soy sauce, a healthy teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of oregano, 1/2

teaspoon of paprika, salt and pepper, chopped fresh basil and/or rosemary or cilantro and cook a little longer.

Add the greens and just cook long enough for them to wilt (kale takes a bit longer than spinach, but whichever greens you use, it doesn't take long). I've been using a combination of fresh spinach and Swiss chard. I've also made this recipe using only kale or collard greens.

Add 1/4 cup of grated parmesan/Romano cheese (a bit of ricotta is also nice, or you could use feta instead) to bind the filling. It shouldn't be too liquid [moist]. It's best to make the filling the day before you are going to prepare the empanadas since the flavors tend to improve overnight.

The dough:
Here in Chile, empanadas are so popular that it is very easy to buy the ready-made and already cut dough at the supermarket. I usually don't buy ready-made anything, but these are quite good and make empanada assembly much easier so that rather than being a once-a-year treat we have been enjoying them almost weekly. Any kind of turnover dough will do, but here is an authentic recipe for empanada dough that should work nicely.


Combine the dry ingredients. Add the Crisco and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender. Stir in the warm milk until it forms soft dough that's not too sticky. Knead it for a bit until it forms a smooth ball. Leave the ball of dough in the bowl, covered with a clean dishtowel, and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Then divide the dough into small chunks -- about the size of a golf ball -- and roll them out into a circle that's about 5 inches in diameter. Put a healthy spoonful of the filling onto the circle, add a few pieces of chopped olives, some raisins and hard-boiled egg if you like, and fold the dough making a half-circle, triangle, or rectangle. It helps the dough to adhere if you dip your finger in a bowl of water and run it over the perimeter of the circle before you fold the dough.

Bake the empanadas for 20 minutes in a 350-degree oven. They are best enjoyed with a glass of red wine and a tomato salad on the side.


Newsletter and Recipes by Ethan Brent, Official Newsletter Focalizer

Bon Appetit!